The Under M1 Club: Come on in! part 01

[Biodude]

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Skaterbabe74 - Thank you...and I totally wish that you could take one of these programs. I wonder why they don't offer 'em in Colorado? 🙁 Well anyways, I hope that you do well in Calc, and like you said, there's really nothing you can do at this point, right? Calculus...darn I'll have to be taking it next semester. I really wish that I could have taken it and finished all of my math requirements freshman year.

Oh yes, and well, the intention of the troll is to make you get mad and react by responding to his/her post. If you do respond, then the troll has succeeded. So when a troll posts, I usually don't respond, and if I do, it's with sarcasm or to poke fun at the troll.

Stereotypes sucks, but there is some truth to 'em. Most of the surgeons I've met aren't really as much of pricks as that poster has stated. Too bad he/she relied on another person's speech rather than actual experience. For all I know, a person's words can be a whole bunch of hot air.

It's currently 1 hour before the ACS for me.

BallerinaTina16 - Hmm, well, Psychology does sound like it would complement your major...BUT, do you LIKE Psychology? I would like to ask you what do you like? I mean, that's what GE's are designed for...what do you like? I would base my ideas from there. For example, I've always had somewhat of an interest in Philosophy, because, well, I like to wonder and ask questions. Philosophy seemed cool to me because it really asks questions that can't be easily answered...or maybe they don't even have answers. One philosophy prof told me that "if a philosopher asks a question that can be answered, then the philosopher has asked the wrong question"

Just thought to throw that in because I was tryin' hard to figure out what I wanted to get a minor in (English, Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology?) because I didn't want to go crazy taking only science courses just like you 😉

Some dude (fellow pre-med) told me to get a minor in Psychology because it would be more related to medicine, what with mental patients and the like. Too bad, I'm taking a Psych class right now, and it's quite boring. I'm glad I took it, though, because I got to see what it's really like. No Psych minor for me.

I'm really more of a dude than a biology guy, despite my username. Science is fun but if that's all I had to study for then I'd be pretty bored. Hopefully I'll be able to set some free time to myself in medical school to read novels.

So here's my suggestion: figure out what you would really really like doing. Otherwise, getting a second major/minor is really pointless unless that's sort of a back-up plan if things go south in the med school admissions game for you (as in, if you are choosing the major/minor for its marketability). Use your GE's as a starting point. Was there one that you liked? Then I would consider it. Then, look at your hobbies. Do you like to draw or paint? Art. Or maybe you like to play a musical instrument, choose music, or well, I assume from your username you like to dance! Yes, that's it! How about gettin' a second major/minor in Dance? 😀 See how easy it is to figure out something you like? Or if you prefer something more "useful" then you could go and see which jobs are hot and get a degree accordingly, or you could go and complement your major with Psychology. Your choice really, though I'd really advise what you would love to major in.



Biodude
major: Bachelor of Science program-Biological Science with an emphasis in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (well, it was either this or...nothing really; there's also emphases in ecology/conservation biology, cell and developmental biology, and marine biology...couldn't find anything else that was this close to GENETICS)

minor: Philosophy 🙂
Planned Philosophy courses: Greek Philosophy, Rationalism and Empiricism, MEDICAL ETHICS (this class will help when I interview at medical schools; the professor has spent a good deal of his PhD training following around Neurosurgeons 😛 ), and several electives

Okay, so now it's Tuesday, which means I have some Chemistry homework due tomorrow, and my English stuff to finish up for Thursday. I also have my last exam (before the final) in Political Science on Thursday, and lab. Great, lab. I broke some equipment along the way so I'm going to have to go and replace it. Then it's onto Friday, my last Psychology quiz and my last Chemistry lab report to turn in. This week isn't as back as I thought it was (except for the ACS in 1 hour). Next week's gonna be a killer though...

 

[ASDIC]

hey skaterbabe,
i read ur address to Nathan on the subject of bio. bio is one of the courses where u just have to memorize. I took a physiology class last year, and it was nothing more than memorization. the prof talked about how u must "understand"...but understanding is useless if u cant remember the definitions, graphs, hormone actions, etc. So i agree about memorization in bio. But i also think that memorization is required in gen chem and organic chem. I took organic this semester, and i memorized over a 200 reactions, 50 mechanisms and over a zillion other concepts that went with it! Memorization is also required in biochem, genetics , microbio, histology, immunology and all the other romantic classes.
about good prices of books , I suggest Half.com where they have brand new books at outrageously low prices. And u were rite about fast shipping at Amazon.com, i ordered a book from this dude living in singapore, and he sent it via DHL express and i got it in 5 days.

And finally writing professors are very subjective in thier grading. Luckily, i had a writing prof who gave me a B+ in my first writing class. It all depends on what the prof wants in the papers. for my second writing course, i had a very weird prof. First of all, she used to talk about her 20 motor vehicle violations she had on credit and wasted time in class. Second, she talked about her luv life which didnt work out for her and depressed her for the rest of her life. Third, she did not give out even a single A in class and this made everyone upset. She talked about the lack of "substance", "frame" and she wanted a "flow" in the paper. Her rhetoric for her resaons for not giving As made everyone in the class very confused!...but in the end she gave me an A... 🙂
well thas all folks,
thekegalman at Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Hey all!

Well the chem dept did decide to add in a second section of the "cool" organic lab. Of course they put it at the same time as Physics for Life!!! Aaaarghhhhh!! In order to take it I'd have to switch to Gen Physics I (way too much calc for me) and be on campus til 7:00pm 3 nites a week again...and I'd have to walk that mile and a half every nite! Thanks but no thanks....I'll just have to get my experiences actually using a lot of the equipment in research rather than class lab lol

Tina - do you like psychology?? If you do then go for it. I'm trying to do a minor in psych along with my double major in bio and chem cuz I enjoy it. My abnormal psych class was a breeze and a blast lol. If you're not big on psych then choose something that does interest you....philosophy, history, lit, dance, theater, whatever...

Biodude - I agree than gen psych is pretty boring, but I'm finding the upper division classes a lot more fun. 😀

Sounds like your week isn't going to be too awful. I hope you did well on ACS this morning!

Welcome thekegalman!
I agree that there is a component of memorization in just about any science class, and while I know there's a ton of memorization in organic there just wasn't nearly as much memorization in my gen chem class as compared to my gen bio or my a&p classes. Most of the formulas were given on our exams (maybe my experience was unique in this i don't know) so for me the key to that class was just practice, practice, practice. Besides if you're practicing problems and reactions over and over you're going to end up memorizing the things you need to anyway lol.

Anyway, good luck all this week....it's soo weird to not have to study lol...I just keep feeling like I should be doing "something" lol.

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Biodude]

thekegalman - Welcome dude...this week's been pretty slow so far, but we seem to get more and more members each week. As for memorization, it's good to build those skills now. I hear that in medical school, a lot of the material is mostly memorization. Plus it'll be more material to memorize, so it would be a good incentive for all us pre-med people to do so, eh? 😀

Skaterbabe74 - ah, the ACS is finally over, and I am home typing this post up! It was pretty darn hard for a multiple choice test. As for the length, I'd say that it's a lot like a section on the MCAT, except that it had 7 fewer questions and 10 more minutes to do it in. Multiply my experience by 3 and add in 1 additional hour of writing essays, and...well, that's pretty hard. I'm going to have to build up my endurance.

As for doing "something" how about volunteering if you have the time? 🙂

Back to the drawing board...

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Biodude - glad it's over for ya lol.

As far as volunteering...I fully intend to, but I need to get my CPR certification first and that's only offered once a month and costs $50 so I have to wait til next month when I get my loan check from school. I kind of meant "something" in terms of studying lol...I've got plenty of spring cleaning projects to keep me busy during my two weeks off...

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[BallerinaTina16]

Yes BioDude. I do love to dance. That is one thing that I miss doing since I work and study so much. It would be wonderful to start dancing again! Definitely give it some more thought...

Oh yes, and if anyone knows, what classes fall under BCMP? Is it all science or just the ones that med school requires?

I just wanted to say too that summer sucks in Davis. It is SO hot right now.
😡

 

[Biodude]

Skaterbabe74 - $50! What a rip-off! Here in Orange County, CA, the CPR certification ranges anywhere from 25 to 60 dollars, and one of the 25 dollar ones also teaches people how to use the defibrillator (you know, that machine with the shockers..."Clear!" Bzzt!). Plus, it's only once a month? Skaterbabe74, is there any other way you could find CPR certification classes? Because where I live, I think I've found about 6, and one teaches it WEEKLY, not MONTHLY...well, that's not accurate; it teaches about 3 - 4 days a week every week. That one also happens to be the defibrillator one 😀

Spring cleaning, huh? Hehe, I am probably the epitome of laziness when it comes to cleaning my room...picture several piles of books, magazines, and papers strewn all over the place, under the bed and couch, on top of tables, sticking to your feet...

My future wife is probably going to be driven crazy with my laziness. It's sort of a habit, and you know the saying, "Old habits die hard." Anyways, to go back to the subject at hand, hope you do enjoy your cleaning, and if you want to study, I think I have a tip, assuming that you can buy textbooks two weeks in advance 😀 Why not buy textbooks and spend a little bit of time each day "studying" them. You know, sort of skim through the chapters and whatnot, so that you know a little bit of what to expect from your classes before starting them. That'll give you an edge over people who don't start studying until after classes start.

BallerinaTina16 - I guess summers in California are gonna suck wherever I go. And I complained about how hot it was in Orange County! By the way, what's BCMP stand for? I wouldn't really be able to answer your question unless I knew what that stood for, sorry.

Hmm...if I was in your position, I'd get a minor in Dance then 😀 That way, you'll "have to study" for it and it'll fit right into your schedule. I think med schools are gonna wonder about that though (in the good way, like, "Hey, this seems odd but interesting! Let's interview this person!"), which is a good thing 😉

Oh well, it's still a good idea to give it some more thought first. But, I do know of theatre majors who end up in med school 😎



I still haven't started on my Chemistry homework yet (silly me...) luckily, the class starts in 3 hours, so I should be able to do it. Life is good so far compared to what I was expecting this week. I'm going to have to organize my portfolio for English when I get home, and I also should be starting on my lab report, which isn't really fun. The only fun parts of labs are obviously the experimentation parts, while the reports are not so fun. Oh well, I'm usually the recorder whenever I do labs in groups.

Oh yes, and if I seem educated about the medical school application process and whatnot, it's because I was a BIG lurker here before I started posting...other people have basically relayed the same information to me while I was lurkin'. Going to the Medical forums was very educational for me, since the people who hung (hang) out there were (are) current medical students.

Well, I better go and do my Chemistry homework now. Later everybody!

 

[jenni4476]

Hey everyone!

BCMP-Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics. Any classes that fall under these headings will count for that GPA. (I know this b/c I did a lot of lurking around too in my early days!)

BallerinaTina16-Another dancer! I take classes occasionally at a private studio in ballet, pointe, and jazz. It would have been my first choice for a minor except my school offers Dance only as a major. If yours offers a minor and you'd enjoy it, do it! You very well may need the stress relief from the science classes (that's what dance does for me😀 ).

Biodude-Well, if you're anything like my husband in the messiness department, your future wife will either learn to live with it or manage somehow to "train" you. I've been living with my husband for four years and I *finally* this winter got him to start putting his dirty clothing in the hamper and his dirty dishes in the dishwasher-he actually managed to make it an unconscious habit now. His papers, shoes, tools, projects, though........I'm still working on those. But I've found that they bother me less than they used to. Once we can afford to buy a bigger house, I'll just give him his own room and let him be messy in there, cuz I know it's something I'll never stamp out of him. And since we all know you'll marry a reasonable woman, right?, I think you'll be OK 😛

Skaterbabe74-Is it the Red Cross that you're planning on taking CPR through? If it is, I'm surprised that they schedule it that way. Here, they schedule a class every week and it only cost me $25 for adult, child, infant. (we didn't learn how to use a defibrillator though-they only told us to follow the directions on an automatic one if it's available since it varies by model).

Uggh, off to studying. This taking Intro Psych in three weeks bit is getting to me. Our "midterm" is tomorrow already-fourth day of class!, we've spent all week on functions of the brain, neurons, neurotransmitters, etc. I'm fascinated by this stuff but having to memorize it all in three days is a little overwhelming! Next week we move on to learning, memory, and overviews of different areas of psychology. That will be much more boring but oh well...

Why couldn't my premed certificate require an intro philosophy class instead? I mean, they require medical ethics, come on!

 

[washkeep]

Hey
Another undergrad, now a junior at Wash U. I feel your pain about working like a ... well you know what.. during summer. Last summer I worked in a factory and at a Friday's, putting in around 70 hrs/week. It was not the most relaxing summer. But I figure this crappy stuff is temporary. Education is priceless, right? And working all these crappy jobs makes me realize that I sure as hell do NOT want to be doing them for the rest of my life.

If a cokehead can go to yale and become the president, you can be a doctor.

Casey

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Hey all - still no news on my abnormal psych or calc grades. I totally hate this weird finals schedule. Since the last finals were Monday teachers have until Fri to get grades in, and our records dept has until the 28th to update the system! Arrrghh...lol.

You guys have to remember that Colorado Springs still very much has a small town mentality. Our Red Cross is so small they don't offer classes. The two local hospitals do offer the cpr training or you can go to a community college or tech school and get it. The hospitals are by far the cheapest, but since all our management/scheduling types haven't figured out just how large a small city we are now they get offered once a month. Heck our town hasn't figured out that people actually work at nite yet and as such we only have 5 buses on the nite route vs 10 during the day! lol

Biodude - your room sounds like my apt lol...and no I totally don't enjoy cleaning, but well...it's gotta be done lol.

I did manage to pick up my comparative religions book...my biopsych book won't go on sale until I've been in comparative religions for a week lol. Looking at the book it shouldn't be too much trouble, I'm gonna assume we have to write a comparative essay for the class, but the book itself is only 500 pgs and 7 chapters lol.

My old boss did offer me a temporary job during the next sale so it looks like I'll be working Fri, Sat, and Sun at least the first week of class if not both weeks...fast, easy, way to make some extra cash 🙂 (providing I don't have too many returns lol...those count against us, and I don't remember how long they keep old ones on the system).

Anyway, good luck getting all you all need to done this week!

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[RoseLee]

Just wanted to share my feelings with those of you who will understand! 😉

I registered for Chemistry 1A (retaking it as last time took it was 12 years ago!!) and Honors Calculus for the Fall today. I took my first step towards completing my pre-reqs (again) and studying for the MCAT!

It's such a cool feeling to be finally doing something toward my dream (rather than writing 15 page papers 3x week just to get a psych BA which now I don't really need...)😱

Anyway just had to share! Hope everyone's grades are what they want them to be this semester and good luck on finals for those of you still finishing up the semester/quarter.

Roselee

 

[Biodude]

Oh, so that's what BMCP stood for. Well, in that case, I think that jenni4476 answered the question 😀 Anyhow, I'd say your safest bet is to count any and all natural science and math classes into your GPA. AMCAS will most certainly count Advanced Quantitative Chemistry into your science GPA, just as much as they would count general Biology into it. Med schools that are part of AMCAS don't seem to bother using their own sets of GPA standards, I don't think. So I think that Science majors have an advantage in the science GPA department because if they score low at the beginning, they can score higher in later classes to bring it up. On the other hand, non-science majors might have an advantage in the science department if they get all A's in the pre-med requirements and don't take anymore science classes (except a few upper-division courses recommended by med schools).

I'm just taking a short break. I'm almost done with my English essay revisions and I just have to study for my Political Science exam afterwards. My last lab is tomorrow! Time to prepare my locker key and clean up my lab equipment.

Welcome washkeep! That's great that you see how much it sucks to work like a dog. You'll definitely have some perspective for the 3rd year of medical school, compared to people who go straight from being a student to straight to bein' a worker. Third year med students complain about it to no end, and usually it's the people who've not worked during undergrad.

jenni4476 - Yup, I'll definitely look for a reasonable woman to marry. The problem, though, is trying to find her out in the midst of...well, I can't think of any euphemisms to use here, so I'll just leave that last part blank. Let's just say that it's difficult to find someone when you're a broke college student and not exactly a stud in the looks department, while you've gotta be on the lookout for gold-diggers as a broke med student 😀 Hopefully, I'll find someone like you, Skaterbabe74, or any of the other very reasonable-sounding (and very intelligent/insightful) women here.

Actually, Intro to Psych sounds typical for a pre-med certificate, since Psychology is very related to Psychiatry. I guess you may not know this, but the prevalence of mental illness is actually higher than it was before, so having a base in Psych is quite useful (especially in Abnormal Psychology like what Skaterbabe74 has taken this semester). But dang, it sounds to me like you are taking an accelerated course! Is this a summer class or something, because at my school, it took 2 to 3 weeks to cover all of that stuff you mentioned!

By the way, Medical Ethics will be very useful for you when you go on your interviews. Interviewers like to ask ethical questions related to medicine, such as patients who want to commit suicide after being diagnosed with a terminal disease, etc. I know that I am definitely taking it for my Philosophy minor.

Skaterbabe74 - Wow, I didn't know that about Colorado Springs. I wonder, what is it like living in a small town? 😀 Although that sounds extremely funny how much the mentality has affected your town. Good luck on the comparative religion course.

I'll be back soon! 🙂

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Welcome Washkeep!

Congrats on getting registered for fall Roselee! Honors calc?!? Wow...you must be a math whiz!

Biodude - living in a small city with a small town atmosphere totally sucks lol. I mean the mtns are beautiful and the people are for the most part wonderful, but they are soooo far behind in keeping up with the growth of the town. We have no decent live music, no decent clubs, can't get anything besides fast food or breakfast after 9:30 pm, and the bus routes suck. Suffice it to say I'm pretty bored most of the time.....it's not like I was a major partier when I lived in Chicago's burbs, but gosh I miss the variety of things to do...and public trans.

My abnormal psych grade finally got put up. I got a B...which isn't bad considering the class was only 300 points and I got a B on the first exam lol. By the time I got around to studying for that one I was already way burned out so I'm satisfied with it. I had hoped for an easy A but oh well no biggie 🙂 Now I just have to find out how awful my calc grade will be lol.

Laters
--Jessica, UCCS

 

[BallerinaTina16]

I think I'm leaning towards taking more Psych classes. It definitely makes a lot more sense having a background in neurobio. I find it all very interesting (can you say nerdy? No shame. I'm proud to be a nerd!).

It just keeps getting hotter and hotter here in Cali. My English prof ended class 15 min earlier just cause she couldn't take the heat anymore. I actually lived in Florida for the first half of my life, but the heat there is different. It's more humid. The heat here is just.... hot. Dry icky hot air.

I'm still trying to get everyone straight on this thread. There's so many of you!! I like being able to sign on to the post and check out what's been going on and take a break from studying.

Are there any Californians out there?? Love to hear from you. 🙂

Oh yeah, did anyone know that today is National Masturbation Day? How gross is that....

P.S. Do any of you talk on AIM? Would you be willing to give out screen names? I'm addicted. I love chatting. It'd be cool to have some buddies out there to encourage each other even more!

 

[ASDIC]

hi ballerina,
i guess u might see me at the meadowlands going crazy at the basketball game here in NJ. since u say its too hot in CA, lemme tell u that is freezing cold here in NJ. its the middle of may...and its like 40 degrees outside. I had the worst winter of my lifetime here in NJ. NJ is famous for its jersey cows...i guess the cows are giving ice cream instead of milk!
my summer classes start this monday, and i an taking 2 economics classes. I heard that my econ prof is "hot as hell"...do u think takin her out would be an excuse for getting a LOR? ==> just kidding. i also started studying for my mcats which i will be takin next april. i am rereading some of physiology stuff, later on i will do genetics. one problem with studying for the mcats is that there is too much to remember compared to any other exam i have ever taken.
and skaterbabe, u should try takin the CPR for Healthcare Professionals because i think most hospitals want that. But i think u can take CPR for Adults and Children and learn AED and Heimlich in a seperate class...
heres a joke my friend told me about these 2 guys...
Two Hillbillies from Kentucky walk into the local bar to wash the dust from their throats and grab a beer.. They stand at the bar, drinking a beer and talking about current cattle prices. Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough. After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress. One of the hillbillies looks at her and says, "Kin ya swaller?" The woman shakes her head no. "Kin ya breathe?" The woman begins to turn blue and shakes her head. The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up the back of her dress, yanks down her panties, and runs his tongue all over her butt cheeks in a circular motion. The woman is so shocked, that she has a violent spasm and the obstruction flies out of her mouth. As she begins to breathe again, the hillbilly walks slowly back to the bar and takes a drink from his beer. His parner says, "Ya know, I'd heard of that there "Hind Lick" maneuver, but I ain't never seen nobody do it."

with that in mind...-x-

 

[washkeep]

Hey I feel your pain with the small town thing, I live in the dairy state and my town is known as the exit off the highway with the "Smiley Barn." Seriously.

By the way, I can't believe people are starting to study for MCATs in april? Is that normal? Damnit. Well, I'm working at Med College of WI this summer as one of my jobs and I really like it. THe best is getting paid to shadow pediatricians at the downtown clinic twice a week. Makes me excited to be premed.


And to those of you taking summer classes... why? No breaks? Ya'll are definately hard-core.

This guy cracks me up-->

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Hey everyone --

Tina - I'm on aol under the same screenname so feel free to IM me anytime...that goes for anyone else on this thread too....

I wouldn't call finding neurobio interesting nerdy lol...so much of our lives, personalities, reactions, etc are based on the interactions of our brains that it makes sooo much sense to want to learn more about it. That's one of the reasons I'm fascinated by psychology.

thekegalman - I'll of course "try" to take the one for professionals, but I don't know if they really make a distinction in the classes just "anybody" can sign up for here in colorado....

washkeep - yeah i've lived in my share of small town college towns, but at least most college towns have a couple decent places to hang out and a couple places to get good cheap food after 9:30 or even before. We have two universities in this town yet you definitely wouldn't know it by driving around here because we're also home to "Focus on the Family" one of the furthest right-wing christian groups out there lol. I have nothing against christianity or conservatism but these guys are among the extremists so it makes life hard as far as having college fun 😉

My reasoning for taking summer classes? Well I get bored if I go more than two or three weeks without being in class. I'm not working this summer either thanks to unemployment (other than helping our my old retail job during a sale in june). But the main reason is that because I'm a senior by credit but don't have enough credits toward any single major yet so I won't graduate til 2006 and therefore my normal semesters are full of science classes (although not all hard sciences, lots of my bio credits are kinesiology/exercise science classes). So I'm using the summers to take the fun stuff that I want to take like film, lit, history, philosophy and finish up the last couple humanities I still had left and work on my minor.

Nite all!
--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Biodude]

Well, I'm back, and unfortunately I won't be able to say as much this time around. I just finished my Political Science Exam today. Yippee, no more 7:00 a.m. classes for me! 😀

Oh, yes, and Roselee, sorry about not responding before, but that's some good initiative you've shown. Please keep us updated so that there's not just chatter between 3 people 😀

Skaterbabe74 - Hmm, that's funny, I tried to send you some IMs last week but you didn't respond. Oh well 😀 That seems to be quite a courseload ya got for the summer though!

BallerinaTina16 - Okay, that's great that you choose something. I do hope that you like Psych a lot, and if you want to see a user's AIM screen name, go check out everybody's profiles. Usually they'll list 'em. Mine's gungfuman22. No kidding about the hotter and hotter part. Remember, I'm a CA res too, so I know how ya feel! Though the hottest place I've ever been in (not humid, btw) was Arizona. That place gets insanely hot during the summer, and I'm thankful that there's air conditioning over there, otherwise I'd be sleeping naked and without a blanket and still be sweating over there. I don't know if Davis can get that hot, but Arizona could get so hot that you can actually boil a cup of coffee by making the cup sit in the sun. That's how people in Arizona make their coffee in the summer 😀

thekegalman - Hmm, didn't know that you were in New Jersey. I visited there one summer as a tourist 😎 As for studying for the MCAT, are you taking any over-priced review course? 😀

Yep, there's quite a bit to remember for the MCAT alright. It's a 6 to 7 hour test, if I'm not mistaken. You come in at 8:00 in the morning and leave the testing center at like 5:30 in the afternoon/evening. Usually people spend around 200 hours studying for it, so I don't think that it's ever too early to start.

washkeep - One guy who finished taking his MCAT this May said to me "I wish I had started studying for it when I was your age, Biodude." By the way, I am only 18. It's never too early to at least start thinking about it, though I've yet to take any Physics whatsoever (skipped out on high school Physics)...which means that I'd bomb the Physics part of the Physical Sciences section if I took it right now.

As for MY reasons for taking summer courses, it's listed before, but I'll say it again: my school seems to screw people who have fewer units when it comes to taking classes. I only got into one stinkin' class that I wanted this semester (General Chem I), and I was a very unhappy camper, so to ensure that I get ALL the classes that I want for next semester and beyond, I am loading up on GE classes for the summer. That'll show the school. I wouldn't have resorted to this if my school offered plenty of space in classrooms for all of the students, but they allowed way too many students into the school last year, while a lot of professors quit. Which left me only able to sign up for one stupid class 😡 If I'd have known that, I wouldn't have come here.

Yes, I'm hardcore, but my school pushed me into it by screwing me over in the class registration process. Next summer, I'll only have like 1 GE class to take, anyhow, and I never take science courses during the summer. I don't think that I can handle a summer science course, and I do want to have my best grades to be in those courses, after all.


Now, as for me...

I finished my Political Science Exam, and I will check with the professor at around 10:00 a.m. to see if I need to take the final in order to get an A in the course.

English starts in about 20 minutes, and I'm done with my portfolio. Now it's just a matter of handing it into the professor. After that, I don't have to show up anymore except to see what my grade in the class is.

Chemistry lab...boy, I think that I screwed up one of the procedures here last week, but I hope that my instructor doesn't notice. I've broken some lab equipment, so now I have to pay for it. This is the last lab of the semester.

Tomorrow:

Chemistry homework (last one!) is due

Chemistry lab report (this is going to take a few hours) is due by 4:00 p.m. in the instructor's mail box

Psychology Quiz number 7 - this one should be easy because it's only over 1 Chapter while the others were over 2 chapters each (except for one which was over 3 chapters)

Next week: FINALS!

Tuesday - Political Science
Wednesday - Chemistry
Friday - Psychology + the 6 page term paper is due!

 

[jenni4476]

Back again......this is getting so addicting! It's working as a nice study break.

Roselee-Yeah, I'm kind of going through the same thing now, just having started my first class in almost 5 years and having registered for fall. I've spent the last year researching and debating it with myself and it was SOOOO nice to just go and DO it all. Though I'm not liking dealing with the bureaucratic part of college. Oh well, if you want something bad enough.......Best of luck and support to you! (Just keep hanging out here, you'll get enough)

washkeep-I live near Milwaukee-how on earth did you land a job at Medical College of WI? And, yes, I am familiar with the "Smiley Barn" although I can't remember the name of the town to save my life. It's somewhere on 94 west, isn't it?

Biodude-yeah, it's accelerated. Four hours a day M-Thurs for three weeks. I took the midterm today and am feeling pretty good about it-I know I overstudied (chalk that up both to the fact that I'm a *nervous newbie* at "serious" college, and that the neuroscience part of psychology is absolutely fascinating-me nerdy too 😎 ) Next week will be even more intense since we only have three class days to cover another four chapters! Oh well, I'll read ahead this weekend while I'm off camping so hopefully it won't be so bad. And come on, there's got to be more women like Skaterbabe and BallerinaTina and I out there. Maybe the common factor that we all dance has something to do with it? (j/k-trying to put a correlation where there is none-my psych professor would be proud of me!) BTW, thanks a lot for calling us intelligent and insightful. You rock!

Skaterbabe-Wow. Those Christians (no offense!) must really have an impact on Colorado Springs. My town only has 20,000 people, no buses, very few taxis, a small two-year branch of UW, and a tech college, and our Red Cross teaches once a week! I would kill to live in a large city for a change. Like Chicago. Oh well, maybe later in life...........You're lucky to be able to take all the misc classes that interest you. Unfortunately, I have to be on a timeline to work things out with my husband and kids so I have to stick pretty close to the bio major and premed certificate requirements.

But I do a lot of reading on my own. My current book is Alison Weir-Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley. I love history (reading about it, not studying it per se), philosophy, and psychology. Also science-Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins is pretty good-it has a lot of stuff on all the different branches of science. Yes, I'm a confirmed nerd..........and also proud of it!😛

(Ya see, I was one of those pom pon girls in high school who was afraid to let her nerdy tendencies out lest she be thought of as *uncool* and therefore unfit to be on the squad. Now I've realized how stupid that was and am not going to hurt myself that way anymore!)

 

[ASDIC]

Hi biodude,
well i am takin 4 courses over the summer, 2 start next week and the other 2 start in july...i did the same last summer. The reason being i am double majoring and i wanna graduate a semester early. and of course, i will be taking TPR in November. My friend took it too, scored a 38, but the ADCOM did not look at it cuz it wasnt required for the 7 year BA/MD program...he was accepted anyway based on his SAT scores at RWJ.
I was screwed in orgo lab too. My TA was the worst, if he didnt like u--no As. Plus, there was a couple making out in the lab, and he took out his anger on people like me...

BallerinaTina16 - I have never taken a psych course...the psych program isnt good here in my univ, but i might take Gen Psych 101 just to see how it is. My sister likes psych...and she is going to be a freshman this fall....wut a pain in the a$$ will it be

-x-

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Hey all 😀

Biodude - sometimes I get inundated with AIMs from webcam people so I'll just "ignore" all of them. That may have been happening when you were trying to IM me, but now that I know your screenname I promise to say hi 🙂

I didn't mean to imply I was taking all of those classes this summer lol...I just meant that that's the type of stuff I'll be using my summers for. This summer I'm taking comparative religions (a one month class that meets M-Th from 4-7), biopsych (which we're only supposed to have to go in for the tests for....fingers crossed on that one cuz it's at 8 am and I suck at getting up early lol), and one class to be determined depending on my calc grade. If I don't get at least a C in calc I'll be taking that. Otherwise I get to choose a fun class. There's a couple lit classes, history classes, and film classes I'm interested in. Any of these calc, lit, his, or film I'll probably end up having 12 months to finish but I'll most likely just do it all this summer. That's actually a pretty typical summer schedule for me. Last summer I had trig, poli sci, and us his I with only trig being on campus and poli sci and us his being online. It worked out great!

Oh and washkeep I'm actually pretty familiar with WI since I grew up in the western burbs of chicago. My grandparents used to have a house up in Land o' Lakes, and we almost moved to Milwaukee once...even went looking for places to live up there lol.

Jenni - Glad you felt good coming outta your midterm! I'll be curious to see how my comparative religion class is set up since it's so short oo lol. Chicago (or even the burbs) is a great place to live. I couldn't afford to live in the city lol, but I was down there just about everyday anyway once I was in college. I used to go to basically every show a band called Simple Simon played (ever here of them? I know they do shows up in WI a lot too...)The Springs is nowhere near as small as your town but they still have the attitude that they are. lol....And yes having fundamentalists with such a strong influence here does suck at times. (no offense to anyone out there intended, but when you're jewish or nonchurchgoing christian around here you constantly get told you're going to hell and you need to join this group in order to be saved. It gets old really fast lol).

Thekegalman - If you can I'd try to take something like abnormal psych too. Gen psych can be pretty boring (but usually a relatively easy A), but the upper division courses are what get interesting. I was definitely bored in gen psych, but could see the potential interest. That's what made me decide to take a few more classes. Plus I figured it might help me motivate and understand patients when the time comes lol.

Good luck to those in classes right now, and have a good day everyone!

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[washkeep]

jenni4476- haha, see you know it only by the once-smiley barn! It's delafield. So I couldn't find any jobs for summer and I started looking months ago. ( I am still looking for a second job.) I was giving up and looking around mcw's website. I saw this cool site for Center for the Advancement of Urban Children. They had a job posting, but I figured it was a looong shot. Well I just emailed the woman, told her I would be great for the job and attached my resume. She called me the next day.


So biodude, are you really "showing the school" or did they just win? Where do you go anyway? If it's anywhere in California, don't complain too much, you're in california. There's no beach even close to St. Louis. But good luck on all your finals... they're so late!

😉

 

[Biodude]

Hey all, lab is done, and today is done, except that I still got some homework to do and a lab report to finish for Chem. Then I will study for 5 minutes on Psych (it's that easy) and hit the sack for much needed sleep.

jenni4476 - Well, that certainly explains what you've learned. I wonder why intro classes have to be so boring 😀 General Chem is certainly boring for me. Hopefully Biochem will be more interesting. Oh yes, and thank you for the encouragement. I do know that women like you are out there. The question is, do I have the time to go search for them? But then, as my little brother (higher IQ than me, he's a genius) likes to say, "You don't HAVE time, you MAKE time." Definitely words to live by when people go through pre-med and bein' a physician. I once asked a surgeon how he could do so much (operate, do rounds on in-patients, work as a trauma surgeon, teach residents and medical students, go to third-world countries in organizations like Doctors Without Borders to provide medical care the poor people there, etc.) and his response was "scheduling". "It's all about scheduling."

thekegalman - Your O-Chem TA sounds like an *******. I do hope he/she gets fired, I know that if TA's tried to pull that BS they'd get fired at my school. Plus, I can totally understand taking classes over the summer. I can complete my degree in 4 years, but then I'd have to resort to summer courses. I could do it in 3 1/2, but I'm getting a minor, which'll take an additional semester of full-time studying (15 semester units).

washkeep - interesting perspective. Actually, mine is that the school would win if I stayed longer than I had to. And I only HAVE to stay here for 4 years to complete all my pre-reqs for med school, my degree and my minor. But, if your perspective is that the school would win if I resorted to summer school, well, then ya I guess I lose. Whatever, I was just so freakin' mad when I found out that almost all my classes were filled up before I could even sign up! I felt like doin' this because it's all done by computer.

Well, anyhow, yes, I do go to school in California. Cal State Fullerton, to be exact. It's not exactly a prestigious school, but my pre-med advisor has extensive experience (Harvard and Texas Tech Medical Schools), and I was impressed by the acceptance rates to health professions schools (85%). I guess the heat is gettin' to me. Better go to the beach over the weekend...

Wanna see his picture? Here: http://biology.fullerton.edu/people/faculty/david-drath/index.html



UPDATE on little old me:

I talked to my Political Science professor today. My current grade in the class is a B. Darn, I was hoping to skip the final so that I could spend more time studying for Chemistry Final (which is the very next day). Now I gotta go and take the political science final (sorry for sounding like an anal pre-med here, but I really want that A!) My Chemistry Lab checkout went smoothly, and now I am working on the lab report for my last experiment.

Looks like I will have to spend tomorrow and the weekend on finishing up my term paper for Psychology.

Um, that's all I guess. Later everybody.

 

[2badr]

Hi all!
I am glad to see everyone wrapping up their classes and hopefully everything went well.🙂
I really appreciate the advice you guys me for my (2004) summer plans.I am really getting excited about it now!!!
Anyway do you guys have any ideas on what type of "paying" positions I could get for the summer-health related of course.I was thinking of doing OR tech,Nurse Aide- things like that.But I really want to start like-yesterday 😀 . I will be on vacation for about 10 days-but I will still be posting!! If I can squeeze in a humanities class I will take one this summer.
Okay weird,weird thought-I went to visit a friend in the hospital (minor surgery type stuff) and I thought,:yeah this is definitely where I need to be." Everytime I am in a hospital it just cements my desire to do this.And I get motivated to study!study!study!
OK enough of the total-nerd speech.I am off to eat dinner! 🙂

 

[Biodude]

Hi 2badr! Where have you been? Well, actually, I shouldn't ask that after seeing your posts in the "Who are Your 5 Favorite SDNers" thread 😀

So anyways, I decided to break from doing my lab report (I'm taking way too many of those LOL )

Well, if you want to do work as like an OR tech or nurse's aide, I think that you need to be certified first. Here in CA, the nurse's aides have to be certified in order to work. I myself am going to take an ROP course over the summer to assist in the hospital, and I do believe that I have posted up what a hospital assistant entails. I can be pretty much a nurse's aide (without the certification of course 😀 ), an OR tech, a Physical Therapist's assistant (once again without certification 😀 ), an EKG reader, or maybe I'd end up being a janitor-type which would totally suck of course. But the classes teach good stuff from what I've seen: procedure set-ups (can you say techs?)

I had other choices too. I could have chosen to take an EMT course to become an EMT or a Certified Nurse's Aide/Home Health Aide combined class. After careful consideration, I decided on taking the hospital assistant route because of the versatility it seems to be offering.

The hard part will be finding a job that fits my already overburdened schedule. Maybe I could get part-time summer jobs to earn extra cash for myself and stick strictly to volunteering (because it's much more flexible) during the school sessions. I wouldn't have any problem working 10 hour weeks (well, according to the advised work hours in my biology handbook).

So, back to your question. I think that it'd be pretty difficult to find one of those positions unless the employer offered on-the-job training. I dunno...any other suggestions, people?

By the way, I don't see anything wrong with being a nerd. I'm not exactly one (though I look like one), but nerds are cool. The world wouldn't be stable without nerds, after all 😎

Oh yes, and if anybody is interested, here is the list of recommended work hours and units to take for people in MY major, Biology (in case you didn't see from my username already 😀 )...it comes from the handbooks we're given to guide us in which classes we should take. I converted the units to Quarter units for the UC people (like BallerinaTina16). Keep in mind that these are RECOMMENDED. If you can work 35 hours a week, go to school full-time, and still get a 4.0 GPA, more power to you. If not, then maybe you should consult the chart below.

If you work: Then you should take:

Hours per week Semester Units/Quarter Units

0 16/24
1-9 14-15/21-23
10-19 13-14/20-21
20-29 9-12/14-18
30-39 6-9/9-14
40+ 3-9/5-14

Some of those quarter units are rounded...1 semester unit is about 1.5 quarter units, but I rounded the units up.

Hope this helps the part-time working/part-time schooling people out there, like agent (whose major is also Biology).

I'm hungry, so I'll be grabbin' some grub. Later.

 

[2badr]

Hi Biodude and everyone!
The thing is I know in my state you need certification and/or experience.That has been what I have found so far.
And as far as that schedule of how many classes you should take.Hmm I don't think I have ever tried to balance things around it.I have a decent GPA so far.Altho I believe that this Micro major -(which I have yet to officially declare since I am attending the local CC until Summer II 2004) will be a challenging one indeed.I have heard it is a lot of memorization and a lot of work.Does it sound odd if I say that I like to study micro but wouldn't want to be confined to bench-work completely? I definitely want that clinical/patient contact. That is why I think I might like to do a residency in Infectious Disease or pathology.But from what I can tell the path residency is so loooonnnggg! I have so many interests it's hard to streamline it down into one specialty. But I guess I should work on finishing up my U-grad and getting in first.
Biodude if you can would you be interested in the midnight shift? I certainly am considering a 12am to 8am shift myself. That is of course if you are not taking day classes so your schedule would be classes from 5:30 to ? and then work from 12 to 8.
Just a thought.🙂 .
Sometimes it seems it takes more work to figure out our schedule than doing the work on the schedule...

 

[manna]

Hi guys! I haven't been keeping up too well lately, but I just wanted to pop in and say hello... and I'm still lurking around when I have time.

Originally posted by washkeep
And to those of you taking summer classes... why? No breaks? Ya'll are definately hard-core.

When you have other obligations (work/family) and you're only going to school part-time, it seems like it takes forever to make any progress. There's no reason for me not to go summers, since I'm only taking about 11 hours at a time (I work 40 hours a week). This summer I'm taking gen chem I, comp 2 and micro. (I was signed up for gen bio I but realized I needed zoology instead so dropped that).

Plus, I absolutely love school. Yes, I'm such a nerd, but I get excited just at the thought of starting a new class. 🙂

 

[Biodude]

Hey people...I might as well be posting now because I know that I will not have enough time later (still need to finish my Chemistry stuff and start getting some progress on the Psychology term paper).

2badr - Yeah, well, most people who decide on a specialty in undergrad change it once they go through medical school, so it's actually a better idea to focus on undergrad right now. I know I am, after what happened to me last semester! Although it gets REALLY annoying when people ask, "So, what kind of doctor do you want to be?" Well, maybe not that, but is annoying when they keep badgering me for a specialty. At this stage, I'm more worried about what kind of grades I'm getting than which specialty I want to go into. Although some have perked my interest, I didn't really spend the time checking them out to see if I WANT them and only them (because I was too busy focusing on grades 😉 ). So it's a very good idea to focus on undergrad, and doing well in undergrad. No need to worry about choosing a specialty until third or even fourth year of medical school.

As for working the midnight shift...well, I'm not exactly a night person, I'm a morning person 😀 That's why I schedule all my classes in the morning (except labs - those are pretty hard to schedule in the morning). I actually would be able to work part-time everyday if it wasn't for my 3 hour labs.

Oh yeah, and if you think Path residency is long, you should see what Thoracic Surgeons have to go through. That's the longest I've seen of any specialty.

manna - Hi! Where have you been? So, have things cleared up between you and the school yet? I remember your saying something or other about it last time you posted.

Oh, and by the way, I think that we're all nerds in some way, even though I said that I wasn't in my last post...

If you like school, then you've got the right attitude for it. Or maybe you're finally realizing what my signature refers to.


Today's pretty much what I outlined in several posts. Chemistry homework due, chemistry lab report due, and Psychology quiz. I'll be going to my pre-med club's banquet tonight (it's FREE to MEMBERS), maybe take a bit of R & R over the weekend...except that I still have that darn Psychology report due. I guess I'll have to finish it up on Saturday morning.

In retrospect, that was not very smart of me to sign up for the first session of summer courses. I will only get about 3 days to rest up before I have to go to school again, and summer courses are obviously accelerated. Plus, the second session of summer courses starts on the Monday after the last Friday of the first session's courses (i.e. I'll be taking my finals and then taking new classes the very next week). But then again, the material for those classes (all history-related except for one Psych class) is mostly memorization. My Psych summer course may be an exception, but I won't worry about it. Besides, it doesn't take me long to memorize material, so that should cut my study time significantly.

I didn't know that my chart would come out so badly...anyway here it is again

hours........units semester/quarter

0.................16/24

1-9..............14-15/21-23

10-19..........13-14/20-21

20-29...........9-12/14-18

30-39...........6-9/9-14

40+..............3-9/5-14

I hope that clears things up. Go ahead and consult the chart above if you find that you're struggling with trying to balance out work and school. This chart was designed with Biology majors in mind, though.

 

[BallerinaTina16]

Biodude-
I totally like your signature quote. I actually feel really frustrated sometimes by the fact that I am so stressed out over midterms and exams that I dont get to enjoy learning. Cause I am a nerd! And I am not ashamed!

Its off to my two midterms now. The last one's of the quarter!!!

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Hey all 🙂

Good luck on your midterms Tina!

2badr - It doesn't sound odd at all to say you like studying micro but aren't all that interested in doing bench-work. I would think that there would be great clinical research opportunities with a micro background once you become a doctor either through infectious diseases or pathology. Definitely keep your mind open for once you get into clinical rotations tho since you never know what you may find you like best.

Biodude - I agree that we need to keep our minds open as far as what specialty we may want to do, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having some ideas about what that may be, especially if you're a nontrad. For example, I'm almost 95% sure I want to do sports med (meaning a fellowship during my residency and probably adding time to my residency), but I don't know yet which residency I want to do - FP/IM/ortho. That I'll wait and decide once I get into clinicals....or who knows I may change completely, but I doubt it since at this point in my life I know myself and my likes/dislikes pretty well lol.

As far as what our school "recommends" workwise with course loads this is for all letters, arts, and science depts:

Employed Semester Hours

40 hrs. per week 6-9
30 hrs. per week 8-11
20 hrs. per week 10-13

with our max load set at 18 semester hours. Unfortunately I don't think these recommendations are accurate to reality of people's lives now. With the cost of tuition so high compared to even 20 yrs ago, most people have to work at least some to make ends meet. Even traditional students. Last semester I was trying to do 24-30 hrs/week on a full 17 credit load and it didn't work so well. In the fall I'll be doing at most 20 hrs/week on a 16 credit load but I'm hoping to do that work in either the slc, a lab, or the lab stockroom so that when I'm sitting waiting for people or results I can study hehe. That definitely makes a major difference in how much work you can handle and keep your grades up. I think it also depends on what kinds of classes you are taking. Ones that aren't quite as memorization intensive as my A&P and spanish classes (although that was more dictionary intensive lol) were first semester would have made a big difference I think.

Anybody else looking forward to getting into upper division bio classes? Yes I took A&P this year, but that wasn't really upper division or a true bio class to me since it's more for the nursing students. I can't wait to get into my "real" bio classes like cell bio, genetics, and bacteriology (micro)! I feel like I'm finally starting my journey towards my degree cuz it won't be all prereqs and core classes😀

Have a good weekend all!
--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Blech - I just got my calc grade. A D...kind of expected it but was still hoping so it looks like I'll be taking that over the summer through UC-Berkeley extension. I won't be adding that one in until July tho and then try and finish it before fall classes start. I don't think it'll be too much trouble since it's the same book I've already been using. As a result, my cumm gpa is 2.403, my total major courses 2.288, my bio prefix courses 2.5, and my minor 3.0. Of course by taking calculus off campus it won't factor into my gpa here, but at least I'll end up with credit in it and be able to move on. I don't think I could face doing it over again on campus tho...I don't think I could stand taking another one of our dept's finals lol. Boooooo! lol🙁

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[2badr]

sorry about that grade skaterbabe 🙁 .
I am not looking forward to calculus. I was wondering if it would be beneficial to take the pre-cal class over the summer before I take calculus.

I hope you get everything worked out skaterbabe.
Biodude thanks for all the advice guys.i hate starting a new thread on topics already discussed.
agent where are you?? 😕 .Everything okay?

 

[Skaterbabe74]

2badr - Either take precalc or make sure you have a really good background in algebra and trig. That's most of my problem. I'll differentiate or integrate something properly and then mess up on the simplification. That and figuring our how to set up word problems are my issues. Since our school leaves all repeated grades in the gpa it doesn't make a diff where I take it as far as my gpa at this school is concerned. It's kinda like AMCAS in that regard lol. I'll have to work just as hard to "erase" that deficiency anyway so I might as well not deal with it here since I've had two different teachers and not liked either of them or learned what I needed to from either of them. The guy I'd be working with thru UC-Berkeley is actually a retired teacher with over 35 years experience so at least he should have plenty of time to work with me when I have questions. And I have the feeling one-on-one teaching will be the best route for me. As much as I hate waiting until July to start this I have to wait until I get my second dispersement on my loans to register, but at least if I don't finish it before fall classes start I'll actually have a full year to finish it.

Don't worry too much about calculus...despite my difficulties with this particular school the calculus itself is pretty easy. I just get flustered when things look awful, and as a result mess them up lol.

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Squat n Squeeze]

I sure wouldn't want a physician who is unable to excel in simple calculus to take care of my children if I had any.🙄

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Ok y'all I know I'm feeding the troll here, and this will be my one and only reply to it I promise.

I wish you luck finding doctors who excelled in calculus since the majority of med schools don't require any calculus or at most one semester. Just because someone is having trouble with one class at one school for reasons I will not go into here doesn't mean they won't make a good doctor.

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Valinor]

Originally posted by Squat n Squeeze
I sure wouldn't want a physician who is unable to excel in simple calculus to take care of my children if I had any.🙄

That is incredibly rude 😡 I certainly wouldn't want someone that inconsiderate to take care of my children. I can count how many med schools require calculus on one hand, so it's preposterous that someone's math skills could some how predict thier competence as a physician; I sincerely hope you were joking, but even if you were, someone's academic hardships is no laughing mater.

 

[Squat n Squeeze]

I'll agree, one's academic hardships are by all means not a laughing matter. But if someone is unable to excel at a class that they enrolled in, they might not be very capable of being a quality physician. Perhaps you are considering the wrong profession. I not only judging by your calculus score, but by your overall GPA. A physician must be an intellectual individual. Having the final say in life or death matters requires a little more intellectual ability, or perhaps, a lot more motivation, stamina, and dedication than you have shown. Half-assedly saying "I want to be a doctor" just won't cut it. You need more than that. And perhaps one day you will squeeze yourself into an osteopathic institution. This is the reason I dislike osteopathic schools--they are diploma mills that turn out intellectually inferior clinicians.

I am not proclaiming this without backing it up, either. I have never taken a class where I have received less than an "A." I don't walk around telling everyone that I want to be a physician, but I rather show the dedication to excel at all endeavors that I begin, both academically and through extra curricular activities.

I did not write this response to offend anyone, but rather to provoke some serious thought. If you can't pull an "A," or at least a "B," in a simple course such as Calculus I and many others which you have supposedly shown a similar track record, you should perhaps rethink your career path. At 2AM when a patient codes and you are the resident in charge of the floor, perhaps you will not have the dedication to perform at your best. This can apply to countless other medical situations.

An individual isn't any better or worse than another individual who is better gifted academically, but they should acknowledge their limitations. There are many other fields out there besides medicine. It's a big world, go out there and conquer it😉 .

 

[Biodude]

Squat n Squeeze - Well, I've talked to an EM doc, and he almost never uses Calculus in his work anyhow. I do agree that it's needed though (for Physics, at least). So, why's it so important for a physician to excel in Calculus in order to take care of your children if its use in taking care of people is pretty non-existent (except in specialties like Radiology)? 😀

Just curious. I still think that Calculus is important to know, but I was just wondering.

Skaterbabe74 - Wow, that grade's pretty rough. I do hope that you improve on it.

2badr - most people seem to recommend pre-cal and then taking cal. If you feel that you need some experience in pre-cal first, then you should take it. That's my opinion on the subject.

Sorry about the low responses, but I'm bushwacked and I feel that my final exams are going to be classified as cruel and unusual punishment.

Well, this is off-topic (for a pre-med thread anyway) but I feel like I need to vent. This morning I was trying to take some stress off by playing games at my school's arcade. Well, this one guy who was abysmally bad at playing the game I wanted to play, got mad, pounded the machine and said that the joystick was broken. Ok, so I went and used the other joystick to play the game. Well, while I was playing this ***** came back and used a lot of swear words in his speech, but his basic message was, "Don't break the joystick, I'm playing next." Ok, no need to swear...so I told him that, and he kept right on doing it. I gave him a dirty look (hint, hint) and then he pushed me. Then I called him a bad name and then he punched me in the side of the face. I was about ready to beat him up, but then I thought about it and let the idiot say his piece. He left. It would have been so easy to beat him up, that's how mad I was at him.

If I threw a punch back at the *****, it would have started a fight, and then campus security and the cops would be called in to stop the brawl, and well...

I think that I made the wiser choice. I'm still somewhat ticked off at the idiot though.

Sorry, needed to vent.

Now to relax over the weekend...and study for finals next week.

 

[Biodude]

Looks like squat n squeeze really is a troll...he/she just bashed DO schools. Let's just ignore this person people

 

[Squat n Squeeze]

Originally posted by Biodude
Squat n Squeeze - Well, I've talked to an EM doc, and he almost never uses Calculus in his work anyhow. I do agree that it's needed though (for Physics, at least). So, why's it so important for a physician to excel in Calculus in order to take care of your children if its use in taking care of people is pretty non-existent (except in specialties like Radiology)? 😀

Just curious. I still think that Calculus is important to know, but I was just wondering.

Calculus is very important to understand. It is crucial to one of the most important skills you need to be an effective physician--clear, organized thought processes. I studied math through differential equations, and have found it to be a very valuable learning experience.

 

[Squat n Squeeze]

Originally posted by Biodude
Looks like squat n squeeze really is a troll...he/she just bashed DO schools. Let's just ignore this person people

I'm not a troll.

I'm just an Ivy League educated serious premed who is just trying to provoke some thought. As much as you don't want to believe it, what I am saying should be given serious consideration.

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Ok that's fine....now I can respond with intelligence while your first post was just inflammatory.

I've gotten B's or higher in all my classes so far except for calculus. That is the only class I am struggling in due to my math anxiety and the unwillingness of this school to help me get beyond it. I'm a nontrad in her first year at a 4 yr school and while I've had a very rough time with the math I think I'm doing a very good job at doing well in my classes, and don't think I'll be "settling" if I can only get into osteopathic schools.

Keep in mind that my overall gpa includes 2 bad calculus grades and 1 not great A&P grade from a time when my mother was going thru surgery and I was a 1000miles away and working 25-30 hrs/week. Also, if the calculus wasn't required for my degree there is no way I would have enrolled in it in the first place.

I've wanted to be a doctor since the time I was 6 or 7 and HAVE made the commitment to succeeding in reaching my goal, and explored all that the commitment entails. Math is NOT a simple course for some people and it is my nemesis, however I am a very good science student, and feel I will make a very good physician (not just opinion either, but many of my colleagues), and saying that my not getting one good grade means I won't make a good doctor because being a doctor "requires a little more intellectual ability, or perhaps, a lot more motivation, stamina, and dedication than you have shown" is completely off base considering you know very, very little about me or my circumstances.

I have put the time into fully considering my career choice, and have the dedication, motivation, and stamina to make it work. Yes I will have to work hard at it to overcome this ONE deficiency, but it will happen since I still have 3 years to make up for it. And if I have to I'll take on a post-bacc or a masters to make myself an even better candidate!

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Squat n Squeeze]

Originally posted by Skaterbabe74
Ok that's fine....now I can respond with intelligence while your first post was just inflammatory.

I've gotten B's or higher in all my classes so far except for calculus. That is the only class I am struggling in due to my math anxiety and the unwillingness of this school to help me get beyond it. I'm a nontrad in her first year at a 4 yr school and while I've had a very rough time with the math I think I'm doing a very good job at doing well in my classes, and don't think I'll be "settling" if I can only get into osteopathic schools.

Keep in mind that my overall gpa includes 2 bad calculus grades and 1 not great A&P grade from a time when my mother was going thru surgery and I was a 1000miles away and working 25-30 hrs/week. Also, if the calculus wasn't required for my degree there is no way I would have enrolled in it in the first place.

I've wanted to be a doctor since the time I was 6 or 7 and HAVE made the commitment to succeeding in reaching my goal, and explored all that the commitment entails. Math is NOT a simple course for some people and it is my nemesis, however I am a very good science student, and feel I will make a very good physician (not just opinion either, but many of my colleagues), and saying that my not getting one good grade means I won't make a good doctor because being a doctor "requires a little more intellectual ability, or perhaps, a lot more motivation, stamina, and dedication than you have shown" is completely off base considering you know very, very little about me or my circumstances.

I have put the time into fully considering my career choice, and have the dedication, motivation, and stamina to make it work. Yes I will have to work hard at it to overcome this ONE deficiency, but it will happen since I still have 3 years to make up for it. And if I have to I'll take on a post-bacc or a masters to make myself an even better candidate!

--Jessica, UCCS

I grew up in a crackhouse. I had a deadbeat dad who I haven't seen in 10 years and my mother was a streetwalker who I haven't spoken to in over 5 years. I usually slept on the floor, along with dozens of hopeless crackheads. On the days when I had more than a slice of bread and some water, I had to carry people's groceries up a 5 story tenament for tips. When I turned 12, I got a job in a convenience store. When I turned 15, I moved out of the house and got my own apartment, all the while working 40+ hours a week.

I always attended elementary and middle school, working as hard as I can. I made honor roll every year for as long as I can remember, with no one who I could tell it to who gave a crap. I did the same through high school, achieving a 4.0 GPA as well as 1600 SAT scores. Through electives, I learned how to play several musical instruments and learned several foreign languages. I studied my ass off for the SAT, being unable to afford a prep class, and scored a 1600, as well as perfect scores on several SAT II's.

I ended up getting a full scholarship to an Ivy Leage university. I never slacked off after this, even though I was (am) living under the best conditions I ever have. I continued to work ~30 hours a week, as well as extensive volunteering, a summer of research, and a summer in rural Uganda doing volunteer work. I took the MCAT last August, after completing my final prerequitisites. I scored a 15, 15, 13-15T. As of now, my college GPA is 4.00. I am 21, have just finished my junior year, and am currently pursuing a double major in Physics and Biochemistry with a minor in Anthropology.

I will become a Neurosurgeon. I wanted to be a physician for as long as I can remember, and have pulled myself out of a $hitmound to achieve it. It has been my goal so that I can one day make a positive difference in other peoples' lives. I have always strived for excellence. Even at times when I thought it was all over, I kept pushing. I put every bit of energy in my body into my goal.

I believe that anyone who wants to become a physician should put in a high level of effort, and that they should be of a high intellectual level. There are no "post bacc's" or "Master's" in the trauma room, or in the operating room. There is no second chance. I believe that the reason for so many medical mistakes is the poor screening that many medical schools practice when choosing their student body. When you are a doctor, there is no room for error. I will take my job with the utmost of effort and seriousness, and put in the same amount of dedication and skill that I have in my academic career up until now. If I ever had a doubt about this, or if I ever do have a doubt about this, I would have been/will be the first to choose another profession.

This is just the way I think about this whole process.

 

[deez4life]

i think you might've picked up the crack addiction yourself... "learning several musical instruments" lol.... thanks for the good late-night laugh... i needed that with this godforsaken AMCAS beating me down

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Originally posted by Squat n Squeeze

I believe that anyone who wants to become a physician should put in a high level of effort, and that they should be of a high intellectual level. There are no "post bacc's" or "Master's" in the trauma room, or in the operating room. There is no second chance. When you are a doctor, there is no room for error. I will take my job with the utmost of effort and seriousness, and put in the same amount of dedication and skill that I have in my academic career up until now. If I ever had a doubt about this, or if I ever do have a doubt about this, I would have been/will be the first to choose another profession.

This is just the way I think about this whole process.

I completely agree with this perception. But the fact remains that you don't know enough about me or my situation to make the kind of value judgements about me that you have. No I'm not an Ivy Leaguer, but that's more because I'm a non-trad who had commitments in Colorado than because I couldn't be an Ivy Leaguer. My hs stats are on par with yours although I only took the ACT, and I made some mistakes as far as commiting to education in my late teens/early 20s due to my enjoyment of my non-academic pursuits (figure skating, dance, and theater) and a lack of maturity. Due to your exteme circumstances you hit that maturity level at a much earlier age than I did. There's nothing wrong with the age I matured vs the age you matured tho. However, I have that maturity now, and have committed myself and am doing well in my endeavors (except for math). I agree that calculus is important because it CAN teach clear, organized thought processes, but calculus isn't the ONLY way to get those skills. Courses in logic and stats can fulfill those needs if you need help with those skills as can doing research (providing your at a school that truly teaches research and doesn't make you a gofer). I agree that IF I have trouble with upper division classes (which I don't expect to have since I'm fully committed to exceling) I should explore another field. However, having a bad start to a 4yr university is not an unaccomplishable hurdle. A tough one yes, an impossible one no.

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Biodude]

Okiee-dokiee, people. I realize that some of you may be SDN illiterate (so to speak), so here are the 3 steps to ignoring any trolls that are hard to ignore the posts of (in this case, squat n squeeze): 😀

Step 1 - go find a post that the troll has slapped up.

Step 2 - Go to the bottom of the post and click on profile.

Step 3 - Scroll down the profile to the very bottom where it says "Add ____ to Your Buddy List" and "Add ____ to Your Ignore List" - Click on the Ignore option

If all goes well, then it will say that (username) has been successfully added to your Ignore List. 😎

And that my friends, is how you can ignore trolls who make lame posts. 🙂

I hope that my 3 step process has helped. Now to find the relevent posts.

 

[Biodude]

Hey there peeps, how y'all doin'? Remember the three-step process outlined above?

How about callin' it "Dr. Biodude's 3 step process to cure your troll addiction"? My little bro came up with it, and I sure kicked myself for not sticking it in last time

So, I'd like it be:

Dr. Biodude's 3 step process to cure your Troll Addiction

Since trolls are all too easy to feed, it can become an addiction, and the cure is all in ignoring them.

By the way, squat n squeeze, just to let you know, you just seemed to scream out TROLL at me when you said that Osteopathic schools are nothing but diploma mills. A lot of good DO's out there would be quite offended by that post.

Oh yeah, and don't bother responding to me, either, 'cuz I'm ignoring you 😀

 

[jekel]

Originally posted by Squat n Squeeze
I'm not a troll.

I'm just an Ivy League educated serious premed who is just trying to provoke some thought. As much as you don't want to believe it, what I am saying should be given serious consideration.

Suuuurrrreee! That goes for both statements. If that is the case then it is apparent that IQ and EQ don't go hand in hand. With your horrible personality you won't impress any interviewers you may come across.

 

[Biodude]

Hi there jekel...I'm surprised to see other people coming into the thread who are not exactly undergrads anymore (what I mean is, it looks like you're going to medical school).

In any case, I think that maybe the people on this thread are just taking a break from school now that the semester's over for most of us (well, there's still me and BallerinaTina16).

Ah well, whatever squat n squeeze says will fall on deaf ears from here on out, hopefully.

 

[jekel]

oops! sorry. i was bored.